Everybody's Broken, But I'm Still Here
by UtterlyRandom
Summary: Full summary inside. Axel is in love with his best friend and confesses to him at a sleepover. But things go wrong and Axel leaves Destiny Islands. Three years later he's back and ready to make things right, but how will Roxas react? A/R, S/R & more!
1. Chapter 1: One Day At A Time

**Title:** _Everybody's Broken, But I'm Still Here_

**Author:** _UtterlyRandom_

**Rating:** _M_

**Disclaimer:** _If I owned them, this would be published and on bookshelves, not on FF. Just saying._

**Summary:** _Axel moved away from Destiny Islands to live with his dad and twin brother in Radiant Garden and attend Hollow Bastion Academy. Now that it's summer vacation,he's back to visit his mom and little sister and see his old friends again. However, he didn't plan on seeing an old best friend, one that he always loved more than a best friend. How will he handle the love of his life seeing him after abandoning him after all these years? Will he be forgiven? Songs in _(almost) _every chapter. Bandfic. Minor Kairi-bashing_.

**Pairings:** _Axel_/_Roxas_, _Riku_/_Kairi_ (Not for long), _Riku_/_Sora_, _Zexion_/_Demyx_, _Leon_/_Cloud_ and more!

**Warnings:** _This fic will contain bad language_, _heavy sarcasm_, _tons of music_, _homosexual themes and erotica_ (otherwise known as gay sex, yaoi, etc), _angst_, _drama _and_ slight incest_. _If any of these offend you_, _don't read_. _Flames will be given to Axel_. _Thank you_!

**Chapter One:**

_One Day At A Time_

The Destiny Islands is known to be a popular tourist site. Every year, tourists travel to the three Islands to see the Island natives, the sparkling white sandy beaches, the beautiful foliage with its rare paopu fruit and breathe the beautiful, refreshing Island air. However, for some people, they aren't traveling to Destiny Islands for it's beautiful beaches and scenery or it's rare fruit or the exotic natives. No, these people are returning to their second home, their birthplace. People like Axel Lea.

"I'm bored as hell." Axel groaned dramatically, his tall, lanky form sprawled all over his mother's seafoam green couch.

"You've only been home one day, Axel! How could you possibly be bored?" Karla, Axel's mother, asked.

Karla and her son shared very few similarities. They both had pale skin, despite living on Destiny Islands. Axel had inherited his mother's piercing, seemingly radioactive emerald-and-jade eyes. They also had the same prominent high cheekbones, straight, pointed noses and slender hips. However, that's where the similarities ended. Unlike her son's bright red hair, Karla's hair was a darker red, almost magenta and she was about 5"6 whereas her son was an incredible 6"3. Axel and his twin brother resembled their father, Alex, and their younger sister, Kairi, took after their mother.

Karla sighed. "Didn't I tell you to invite your friends from school to stay for the summer?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, where are they? Didn't you invite them? Couldn't they make it?"

"They're coming tonight, mom. Zexion had to get permission from his uptight father to use the summer house and Demyx stayed behind because he'll be staying with Zexion. Marluxia's probably gonna be with them, unless he convinced Luxord to stay in the band, which I doubt cause once Luxord makes up his mind, it stays made up." Axel explained before he groaned and sat up.

Karla raked her fingers through her hair and examined her reflection in the hall mirror. "Have some faith in your friends, Axel!" His mother admonished before she glanced at the clock on the living room wall. "Oh! I better get going!" She grabbed her purse off of the hall table and pulled on her shoes. "I know you're an adult now, but I still want a call if you'll be out late or staying over at Zexion's father's summer house, alright?"

Axel stretched and got to his feet. "Yeah, sure...bye."

"Bye, honey." She grabbed her son's arm and yanked him to her level so they were face to face and pecked him on the cheek. Karla let her son go and walked to the foot of the stairs. "I'm leaving, Kairi! Call me to let me know where you plan on staying tonight!" She shouted up the stairs.

Axel heard his sister shout back to their mother, "Okay! Bye mom!" Karla left as soon as Kairi replied.

The spiky red-headed male sat back down on the couch and closed his eyes. He didn't open them until his sixteen year old sister was skipping down the stairs ten minutes after their mother had left. His bright emerald green eyes widened when his sister walked into view and checked her reflection in the same mirror their mom had used before she went out.

"Why are you so- ah...dressed up?" He asked, examining Kairi from head to toe. His dear, sweet little sister wore a low cut light pink dress that ended mid-thigh and matching 3-inch high heeled knee-high boots.

"What?" The blue eyed girl, that looked just like their father's, asked and a pout formed on her lips. "Don't I look great?" Kairi asked, spinning in a circle to show off her outfit.

"Kairi, you're my little sister, so as your big brother, it is my job to tell you to march your barely-covered ass back upstairs to your room and put on something that even the Amish would approve of."

Kairi folded her arms over her chest. "You're not the boss of me, Axel."

"I don't care. If you don't go change right this minute, you're not going out tonight."

Kairi narrowed her blue eyes at the taller redhead and placed her hands on her hips. "For your information, Axel, mom was with me when I bought this outfit. She told me it would be perfect for tonight.."

Axel's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's tonight? Halloween? National Dress-Like-A-Slut day?"

"No, stupid," the sixteen year old rolled her eyes, pulling a tube of cherry flavored lip gloss out of her purse and facing the mirror to apply a liberal amount to her already glossed lips, "It's Open Mic night at the new and improved twenty-one and under club Riku's band plays at. So we're all going out to see the bands and local singers perform."

"'We'? Who's 'we'?" The taller of the two redheads asked.

Kairi opened her cherry flavored lips to reply, but a car beeped it's horn from right outside the house. She shut her mouth and put her lip gloss back inside her purse and slipped the purse strap over her shoulder and walked to the door, turning the knob and yanking it open. "If you want to find out, stop by Club Aftershock." She wiggled her fingers at her brother, halfway out the door. "Bye, bro! _So_ glad you're back." And with that, she slammed the front door shut.

Axel jumped off the couch and yanked open the door in time to see the back door of a black Mustang corvette slam shut, the tires screeching as it backed out of the driveway and speed down the street. "Bye, Axel!" An echo of a group of female voices met his ears.

The green eyed male gritted his teeth and slammed the door shut before pivoting on his heels and running down the hall and up the stairs, taking them three at a time. He pulled his LG enV3 cell phone from his back pocket and punched in speed dial number five and hit the send button.

"_Heyyy_, Axel! We _just_ got here! Are you psychic?" Demyx exclaimed.

"No, but I know what we're gonna do tonight. Club Aftershock. I want to check out how the music scene is since I've left." Axel said as he reached the landing. He strode to the end of the hall, his room was the second door on the right.

"Are we gonna play? Cause Marluxia's with us...he couldn't get Luxord to reconsider leaving the band." Axel's band mate admitted.

"I dunno." Axel jerked the doorknob and pushed his door open. "Dress to impress, cause you never know." Axel instructed as he entered his room.

Demyx laughed. "Axel, baby, I'm _always_ dressed to impress. Unlike _you_." He shot back.

Axel laughed as he dumped the contents of his three suitcases onto his unmade bed. "Only because I'm most impressive when I'm _not_ dressed!" The redhead countered, holding his cell phone between his shoulder and ear so he could use both hands to look for something to wear.

Axel's best friend snorted, "_Riiight_. Ax, just letting you know, I've _seen_ you naked. And, yeah, I wasn't impressed."

"Well, that's only because you were drunk and that was way back when you thought you were straight. And, Dem, I hate to break it to you, but that wasn't me you saw naked. That was Reno."

There was a pause and Axel could only hear static before Demyx said, "Oh...well, you guys are twins, so I'm sure you look the same."

Axel held up a pair of black skinny jeans and smiled. "I'll prove you wrong later, baby. I've got to change." He said distractedly as he placed the jeans over the back of his desk char and began looking for a shirt to wear. "Google Club Aftershock and put the address into Zexion's GGPS. Let them know we're going and tell them to look stylish, yet stunningly sexy, like me. Got it memorized?"

His best friend laughed once more. "Got it, Flurry. See ya there!"

"Bye, Dem." The redhead ended the call and focused all of his attention on finding his favorite black silk button-up shirt. Three minutes later, he found it and slipped off his shorts and pulled on the black skinny jeans he'd set aside earlier.

The jeans accentuated his slender waist and clung to his long legs comfortably. The redhead put his cell phone in his pocket before taking off his well-worn Cobra Starship T-shirt. Axel put on the silk shirt, buttoning every ebony button except the last three, showing off his hairless, pale collarbone. He searched through a gym bag and pulled out a pair of fairly new black Italian dress shoes. Axel put on a little bit of black eyeliner and blew himself a kiss in the mirror before grabbing his wallet, iPod and keys and began to leave his house to go find his sister at Club Aftershock...and see who she went with.

**SRAR**

Axel flashed his ID at the bouncer and strode into the club. The dance floor was packed and everyone was dancing, singing and looked like they were having a blast. The redhead scanned the crowded club, looking for his blue eyed, scantily dressed little sister. However, after several minutes of searching, Axel decided to just relax and let her reveal herself to him in time and enjoy the scene and wait for his friends to arrive. While he waited, he scoped out the teenaged versions of the kids he had grown up with.

The eighteen year old could remember going to this same club with his friends when he was younger. That was before he had moved to Radiant Garden to live with his dad and twin brother and attended Hollow Bastion Academy and met Demyx, Zexion and Marluxia. The last time Axel had been to Club Aftershock, he had been fourteen years old and he and his best friends, Riku and Roxas, were inseparable. Axel kept in touch with Riku through e-mail, AIM and text messages and the two would hang out whenever Axel visited his mother and sister over school breaks, but _Roxas_...well, Axel hadn't seen nor heard from him since the day he left Destiny Islands to live with his dad four years ago.

Axel frowned at the thought of the short, blue eyed, spikey blonde haired boy he had been so close to. Before Axel had left, he had shamelessly begged and pleaded the younger male to promise to never forget him. At the time, Axel was convinced he couldn't live if his best friend forgot him, but Roxas had never once asked Axel to swear he wouldn't forget _him_. Perhaps he knew Axel wouldn't have been able to keep that promise, which is why he never asked him to. Axel had forgotten.

"Fuck my stupid life." The redheaded male muttered under his breath, smacking his forehead with his palm and squeezing his eyes shut as he clenching his hand into a fist.

"Axel?" A somewhat familiar voice shouted over the music. "Hey! Axel!"

The green eyed male opened his eyes and lowered his fist to his side. He looked around him to find the person who had called his name. The voice sounded familiar, but when he didn't recognize anyone around him, he quickly gave up and began looking for his sister again.

"Axel!" A hand clutched his shoulder firmly and tugged swiftly, spinning Axel around to stare into very familiar light turquoise-teal eyes.

"Riku! What's your dumb ass self doing here?" He asked, all previous thoughts of finding Kairi disappearing as he pushed Riku's hand off his shoulder.

The tall (but not as tall as Axel), silver haired male laughed. "Me? What are _you_ doing here?"

"Stalking my sister."

Riku laughed again. "Man, Axel, you need a hobby! Aren't there enough clubs and extracurricular activities at that fancy prep school you go to?" He joked.

Axel laughed sarcastically. "You haven't changed much. Same lame sense of humor."

Riku arched a perfectly threaded silver eyebrow. "Oh yeah? So one of those rich boys you're friends with is a comedian, huh?"

The redhead nodded, a smile playing on the corner of his lips. "Oh, yeah! Demyx, though he doesn't know it."

Axel's old best friend was silent, his aqua-turquoise eyes searching the redhead's face. After a few minutes, a small, sad smile graced the handsome, muscular male's soft, light pink lips.

"You've changed, Axel." Riku stated.

His oldest and dearest friend snorted. "Nah, man. I'm still the same pain in the ass pyromaniac everyone knows and hates to love. I haven't changed at all. Not compared to this place, anyway! Damn! It was never this crowded and the music was never this good back when we killed time here!"

Riku's face relaxed. "Maybe you haven't changed." He mused to himself.

"What'd you say?" Axel shouted as the song ended and the crowd around them cheered, clapped and whistled.

"Nothing." The silverette shook his head to silently make his point.

"Oh." Axel shrugged and looked around. His emerald green orbs lit up even brighter as he found some familiar faces in the crowded club. Kairi was standing by the entrance, talking to their cousins, Tidus and Rikku Highwind, and coming through the door were three faces Axel knew very well.

"What are you doing?" Riku demanded, his eyes wide as his old friend began jumping up and down, waving his arms wildly above his spiked red hair.

"Waving over my friends! See 'em?" The man in question answered excitedly.

"Oh, you've found Kairi..." Riku frowned, then exhaled loudly. "Look, Axel, about Kairi...there's something I have to tell you."

Axel lowered his arms and ceased his jumping as his friends, followed by his family, began to make their way toward him. "Okay, what'd you want to tell me?"

The silverette inhaled deeply before saying, "I'm dating your sister."

Axel laughed. "Oh, man! You had me worried!" He slapped Riku's back as he laughed. A moment later, however, he stood up and ceased laughing. "Hang on...I thought we both decided we're gay." Axel's green eyes narrowed. "If you're gay and you're just going out with my sister so her feelings wouldn't get hurt, I will call this certifiably insane girl I know back at school and have her rape you." Axel's voice was as serious as he was a natural redhead.

Riku's already pale face paled even more. "Uh, bi, actually."

Axel whistled lowly, "Damn, so, you like it at both ends?" Riku's cheeks pinkened as he nodded and Axel shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Guess I was wrong."

Riku glanced around his friend's arm at Kairi, whom was stuck behind some freak with pink hair. "About me being gay? Yeah, you were wrong."

The green eyes male shook his head. "Nah, I don't care about that. Not really, anyway. I meant, I'm wrong because I always figured you'd end up with Sora."

Riku's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, but Axel didn't notice because the pink haired man Kairi had been behind suddenly jumped on Axel.

The redhead yelped as a blur of pink and black attacked him. "Marluxia! Get off me!"

"Never!"

"Hey, baby!" Kairi chirped a little too shrilly as she slid her body up against Riku and pressed her cherry lip glossed lips to Riku's mouth.

Riku hated cherry lip gloss and Kairi knew it. He also hated the way she snaked her thin, pale arms around his neck and hitched her leg up and hooked it around his torso and the back of his right leg, the heel of her boot digging through his pant leg and into his calves. However, what he hated the most was how desperate, eager and _sloppy_ his girlfriend's kisses were.

"Marluxia, off!" Axel grunted, finally freeing himself from the pink-head's grip, letting Marluxia fall to the floor.

The redhead smiled in satisfaction as his friend pouted before he was jumped on once more.

"Demyx." The tall male growled through clenched teeth.

"Yes, Axel?" The mullet-haired youth question, sweet as sugar and puppy dogs.

"Get your fat ass off me!"

"No can do, Ax. I've missed you too much." Was the reply.

Meanwhile, Riku finally broke free of Kairi's clutches and wiped the disgusting cherry substance off of his mouth with the back of his hand. Kairi didn't pay attention. She was already pulling out a tube of the vile gunk and began to reapply the gloss until her lips shined under the flashing multicolored lights of the club.

Demyx jumped off of Axel just as the green eyed male pulled out his lighter. The dirty blonde landed in front of Riku, whom was smoothing the wrinkles out of his shirt Kairi's spur of the moment make out session had produced. The hyperactive sitar player eyed Riku up and down. The male had shoulder length silver hair that looked soft as silk . His shoulders were broad and muscular, as was the rest of his body. The silverette wore dark blue skinny jeans, white and black Echó Unlimited shoes and a tight black wife beater, a black sleeveless vest that didn't zip nor button-up and a white tie was hanging loosely around his neck.

Demyx nodded his head, approving Riku's choice of clothing. The sandy haired male held out his hand to the silverette. "Hey there! I'm Demyx, Axel's best friend! The guy with the pink hair is Marluxia and that's Zexion." Demyx pointed to the male with pink hair, whom had got off the floor and was talking to Axel. The other male was ignoring the crowd and conversation around him, his nose buried in a book. Riku mentally critiqued Axel's friends as Demyx chattered about his opinion of the Islands.

The hyperactive blonde was shorter than Riku, and had a hint of a tan, which only made his blue eyes shine even brighter. He was wearing a pair of loose dark blue Levi jeans. The jeans hugged his hips, but were loose around his thighs and calves. Demyx was wearing a pair of black combat boots and a silky royal blue button-up dress shirt. He would fit in on the Islands, if it weren't for his sandy blonde hair which was styled into a faux-mullet, but it somehow suited the man. Just like the boots he wore. Demyx shook his head and Riku noticed three earrings in the male's right ear and two on the other.

Riku subtly glanced at Marluxia. His skin was a light gold and he had a very angelic face, unlike Demyx's cute baby-like features. Like Demyx, the male had blue eyes, but his were icier. Marluxia was about the same height as Riku, give or take half an inch. He wore a pair of neon green skinny jeans and black canvas shoes. He was also wearing the same kind of shirt as Axel and Demyx, but his was a light pink color. Riku wondered if they all shared the same shirt preference and one glance at Zexion answered that question.

Zexion was about the same height as Demyx, maybe an inch taller. He was fair skinned and had slate-blue hair that was cut emo-style, shielding one of his eyes. The eye Riku could see, however, was a bright blue. The male wore a pair of dark gray stone-washed skinny jeans and black boots like Demyx wore. Zexion also had on the same shirt as his friends, except his shirt was navy blue.

"Riku!" Kairi shrieked, "Are we going to perform?"

Axel looked at Riku, his eyebrows raised. "Perform?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah. You know about my band." He punched his friend's shoulder. "What, did you think just because _you_ left I would stop playing?"

The green eyed male laughed. "You should have! Without me, you suck!"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "Really, now, Axel? Well, I guess I'll just have to prove you wrong. Because I'm pretty sure _you_ were the one who sucked."

Marluxia and Demyx laughed loudly, snapping Riku and Axel out of their playful banter.

"Those are some pretty heavy sexual innuendos! '_Performing_', '_sucking_'...what did you two do together?" Marluxia asked, laughing even louder when Riku and Axel blushed.

Demyx ignored Marluxia. "There's no way in _hell_ Axel sucks! We would know." Marluxia snorted. "We're Hell's Nobodies." Demyx continued.

"Hell's Nobodies?" Kairi asked, surprising all of them. They had all been blissfully unaware of her presence until now.

"Yeah. It's our band. Axel started it. He's the lead singer. I'm kind of his co-lead singer and I play sitar. Marluxia is the bass guitarist and Zexion's the keyboardist. Our drummer, Luxord, quit on us. Said he was tired of being a 'Nobody', so he left." Demyx made a face.

"How cute!" Kairi squealed, jumping up and down excitedly. She grabbed Riku's arm, her nails digging into the muscle. "Riku has a band called Drowning in Shadows! I'm the keyboardist and female lead singer!"

"Who else is in your band? Axel asked his childhood friend.

"Well, me. I'm the lead singer and I play the guitar, drums and keyboard. And your cousin Tidus is my drummer, Kairi is the keyboardist and Rikku, Paine, and Yuna are my back up singers."

Axel nodded his approval. "A good bunch of people."

"Are you just saying that because your sister and cousins are in the band?" The silverette asked, his voice light and playful.

Axel smiled. "No. Tidus is a kick ass drummer and I know Rikku, Yuna and Paine can really belt it out and Kairi is a great keyboardist to boot."

"Aw, thanks big bro!" Axel's sister chirped before planting a cherry flavored kiss on Riku's cheek. "Let's go play them a song, baby!"

Riku exchanged a look with Axel. "Are you gonna watch? Or are you ditching?" His face remained neutral, but his tone hinted towards skepticism.

Axel rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't miss you getting boo-ed off the stage for anything in the world. I'm definitely watching."

The silverette smiled. "Alright. Prepare to be blown away." Riku turned toward the crowd and began to push his way through the, leaving Kairi, Rikku and Tidus to trail after him.

Axel turned to face his friends. "Do you guys wanna stay and watch with me, or do you just want to chill?"

Marluxia craned his neck and gazed in the direction the silver haired islander had gone. "I say we stay and watch. Asses like that are one in a million."

"Oh, Marluxia, I know it is difficult, but please do try to keep it in your pants." Zexion stated drily, eying the pink-head in disdain.

"Chill out, Zexion, Marly's right. Riku's got helluva ass." Zexion hit the back of Demyx's head with his book, making the sandy blonde whimper and run his hand gingerly over the abused area.

Axel cleared his throat. "Um, I think we should play a song after they're done performing." Zexion narrowed his eyes at the taller male. "I can't let Riku one-up me!" He defended himself.

Demyx cheered, "Oh yeah, we'll show these islanders how the prep kids party!"

Axel laughed and grabbed his hyperactive friend's bicep. "C'mon. Let's get closer to the stage." He urged, tugging Demyx in the direction Riku had departed in. Demyx grabbed Marluxia, who grabbed Zexion, only to get hit with the book, too.

Just as they got to the front of the crowd and were right in front of the center of the stage, Riku stepped on stage. The crowded club's occupants went crazy.

"Hey, everyone, I'm Riku Kokuei. Stick around because Drowning in Shadows will be performing for all of you in a bit." Squeals broke out throughout the club and Riku paused to smile at the mass of bodies. "Right now, enjoy and rock out to the Resurrection Warriors!" Riku began to clap enthusiastically and the crowd copied his actions. The aqua eyed male cheered as the band filed on to the stage and Riku slipped backstage.

Axel beamed up at the band warming up in front of him. He, Roxas and Riku had been the Resurrection Warriors biggest fans back in the day. Zack Fair was the front man and his best friends, Aerith, Tifa, Leon and Cloud were also his band mates. Leon and Cloud were half brothers, and just so happened to be Roxas' older brothers and guardians. Cloud slid onto the stool behind the drum set and his half brother tuned his bass guitar on the right stage of the stage. Tifa was bent over behind Leon, plugging the instruments into the amplifiers. Aerith tested her electronic violin as Zack took his place center stage, idly tuning his electric guitar.

"Hey, everybody, how you doing?" Zack drawled into the microphone. The crowd cheered. "That's good, that's good. Anyway, like Riku said, we're The Resurrection Warriors. That name should be familiar to every single one of you, because we've been playing here for years. For you tourists, I'll spare you from the wrath of the lion and the wolf and introduce you to the band." Zack smirked over his shoulder at Leon and Cloud before facing the crowd again.

"I'm Zack Fair and I rock your fucking souls. The pretty girl in pink who can shred a violin like cheese is Aerith Gainsborough. Emo boy on the drums is Cloud Strife, and yeah, taste the fucking irony. His slightly less emo older brother is on bass and he's known as Leon Leonhart. And that busty babe bending over, giving all of us a very nice view of her ass is Tifa Lockheart. That's all. Let's rock." Zack began plucking the strings on his guitar, Leon mirroring his moves as Aerith ran the bow back and forth over the neck of the electronic violin.

"_There's a place off Ocean Avenue,  
Where I used to sit and talk with you,  
We were both sixteen and it felt so right,  
Sleeping all day, staying up all -  
Night,  
Staying up all night.  
__  
There's a place on the corner of Cherry Street,  
We would walk on the beach in our bare feet,  
We were both eighteen, and it felt so right,  
__Sleeping all day, staying up all -  
__Night,  
Staying up all, night._"

Axel smiled as Zack's fingers began frantically plucking at the strings, his pick moving over the strings as well. Meanwhile, behind him, Cloud began beating on the drums as his half brother copied Zack's movements and Aerith leaned into the chin rest on the violin, striking the bow across the violin's neck.

"_If I could find you now  
Things would get better,  
We could leave this town,  
And run forever,  
Let your waves crash down on me  
And take me away, yeah._

_There's a piece of you that's here with me,_  
_It's everywhere I go, it's everything I see_  
_When I sleep, I dream and it gets me by,_  
_I can make believe, that you're here -_  
_Tonight,_  
_That you're here, tonight._

_If I could find you now,_  
_Things would get better._  
_We could leave this town,_  
_And run forever_  
_I know somewhere, somehow, we'll be together_  
_Let your waves crash down on me,_  
_And take me away, yeah._"

Zack stepped away from the microphone stand and began clapping to the beat Cloud banged out. He looked around at his band before grabbing his guitar and continuing to strum out the chords. He closed his eyes and sang,

"_I remember the look in your eyes,  
When I told you that this was goodbye  
You were begging me not tonight,  
Not here,  
Not now._

_We're looking up at the same night sky,  
And keep pretending the sun will not rise.  
We'll be together for one more night,  
Somewhere, somehow._

_If I could find you now,_  
_Things would get better._  
_We could leave this town,_  
_And run forever._  
_I know somewhere, somehow we'll be together._  
_Let your waves crash down on me,_  
_And take me away, yeah!_"

Zack ran his hand through his hair before smiling at the clubbers. "Thank you all! You're wonderful and you all smell, go take a shower!" Zack laughed and followed his band as they exited the stage.

Rikku, Paine and Yuna scampered on stage and hurriedly set up the stage equipment. Tidus hurried after them and helped adjust the microphone stands and the straps for the guitars. Kairi sauntered on stage next, followed by Riku. The club began cheering, the floors vibrating under Axel's feet as they stomped and hollered. The green eyed redhead cheered loudly for his friends as the aqua-green eyed teen approached the microphone stand.

"It's a pleasure to perform here tonight. Thank you all for making it out here tonight." Riku flashed a charming smile at the crowd and there were sporadic bursts of giggles from males and females. "This song is for an old friend who seems to have forgotten that I'm still here for him, no matter what." He looked over his shoulder and nodded to Tidus, who began to tap the tip of his drumstick lightly on the top-hat. Riku began to sing,

"_I am a question to the world,  
Not an answer to be heard.  
All a moment that's held in your arms.  
And what do you think you'd ever say?  
I won't listen anyway…  
You don't know me,  
And I'll never be what you want me to be._

_And what do you think you'd understand?  
I'm a boy, no, I'm a man..  
You can take me and throw me away.  
And how can you learn what's never shown?  
Yeah, you stand here on your own.  
They don't know me 'cause I'm not here._"

Riku stepped closer to the microphone stand, closing his eyes and tilting his head to the side, his lips almost touching the microphone, his fingers flying over the strings of his guitar, his pick plucking away as Tidus banged across the drum set, his eyes shut and muscles flexed as he pounded out the beat.

"_And I want a moment to be real,  
Wanna touch things I don't feel,  
Wanna hold on and feel I belong.  
And how can the world want me to change,  
They're the ones that stay the same.  
The don't know me,  
'Cause I'm not here._

_And you see the things they never see_  
_All you wanted, I could be_  
_Now you know me, and I'm not afraid_  
_And I wanna tell you who I am_  
_Can you help me be a man?_  
_They can't break me_  
_As long as I know who I am!_"

Riku opened his eyes and immediately sought out his best friend's glowing green eyes. They didn't break eye contact as Riku continued to pour his heart and soul into the song. His voice never once wavered as his chest tightened with the powerful emotions behind the lyrics.

"_And I want a moment to be real,  
Wanna touch things I don't feel,  
Wanna hold on and feel I belong.  
And how can the world want me to change,  
They're the ones that stay the same.  
They can't see me,  
But I'm still here._"

Axel knew the next verse very well and he mouthed the words along with his friend, remembering the day they wrote the song. It was the anniversary of the day Riku's dad and brother died and Roxas and Sora cried with Riku, knowing how it felt to lose a parent. And Axel understood because his father left his mother and Reno had followed. They all felt abandoned in some way and wrote the song to remind each other they would always be there for each other. Axel sang along with his friend,

"_They can't tell me who to be,  
'Cause I'm not what they see.  
And the world is still sleepin',  
While I keep on dreamin' for me.  
And their words are just whispers  
And lies that I'll never believe._

_And I want a moment to be real,_  
_Wanna touch things I don't feel,_  
_Wanna hold on and feel I belong._  
_And how can they say I never change_  
_They're the ones that stay the same._  
_I'm the one now,_  
_'Cause I'm still here._

_I'm the one,_  
_'Cause I'm still here._

_I'm still here.  
I'm still here.  
I'm still here._"

Riku pushed his sweaty silver hair away from his face. "Thank you all! You're great!" The aqua-green eyed male smiled as he caught his breath.

Demyx put his hand on Axel's shoulder. "I'm gonna go add us to the set list." Axel nodded and Demyx quickly jogged up the stairs leading backstage.

"Next we have a very special performance by a real crowd pleaser." A club employee rushed to join Riku center stage and whispered in his ear. Axel raised a vibrant red eyebrow as Riku smiled and nodded. "And a familiar face will join us afterward. I hope you all give Hell's Nobodies a warm welcome." With that being said, Riku left the stage, his band following him.

Axel smiled and awaited Demyx's return. He had the perfect song in mind and wanted to get his best friend's approval before telling Marluxia and Zexion what they were going to perform. Before Demyx returned, however, the lights on stage went out, and Axel blinked, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. Once they did, he could make out the body of a short, slender person. A few dim spotlights shined on the drum set, and the three microphone stands placed around the stage. In the dim spotlights, Axel could see that the person was male and wore a pair of faded black jeans and a familiar red shirt.

To Axel's surprise, Riku, Cloud, Leon and Aerith joined the boy on stage. Cloud sat back down behind the drum set, Leon resumed his place on the right side of the stage as Aerith slid behind the keyboards and Riku slipped a guitar strap over his head and tuned it quietly, as did the short male and Leon. The boy ducked his head, and Axel realized he was blonde, and lowered the microphone stand.

"Uh, hi...everyone. This isn't a band, really. Just my own motley crew." A couple of people laughed, including a certain redhead's band mates, even Zexion. Axel would have, but the voice seemed vaguely familiar and he was trying to place it. He squinted, trying to make out the rest of the boy's features in the dim light, but didn't have much luck.

"Anyway, here's a song I wrote about a really good friend of mine. He'll probably never hear it, but I'll hold on and keep hoping he will, someday. For now, I just need to let this out. So, uh, here we go." The blonde began to strum his guitar, Leon and Riku quickly joining in. The boy opened his mouth and began to sing in an angelic voice,

"_Wednesday I came home from school,  
Did my homework in my room.  
Then I watched some TV,  
__I still miss you._

_Thursday morning went online,  
Got to school at half past nine.  
Wound up in detention,  
I still miss you._

_Everything I do, (Oh!)_  
_Brings me back to you._"

Axel frowned. He thought the voice was even more recognizable now, but he still couldn't place where he knew it from. Perhaps he was just a local island boy he had heard perform at the club back when he was a kid. He shrugged and listened to the next verse.

"_And I die.  
One day at a time.  
'Cause I just can't seem to get you off my mind.  
No matter how I try,  
Try to kill the time.  
Well, I think that I'm just going crazy,  
One day at a time._

_Friday I got out of bed,_  
_Tried to smile frowned instead._  
_Burnt some toast for breakfast,_  
_I still miss you._  
_Saturday I turned sixteen,_  
_Never dreamt you'd act so mean._  
_You didn't even call me,_  
_But I still miss you._"

The next lyrics stabbed Axel in the heart and he felt tears prick the back of his eyes for the short blonde boy singing so soulfully, reliving his heart ache with him. He was immediately reminded of Roxas, and his heart ached even more.

"_And when I turn ninety four,  
I think I'll miss you even more._

_And I die._  
_One day at a time._  
_'Cause I just can't seem to get you off my mind._  
_No matter how I try,_  
_Try to kill the time._  
_Well, I think that I'm just going crazy,_  
_One day at a time_."

The boy stopped playing and grabbed the microphone, singing into the microphone, Riku backing him up. Axel jumped, jolted by the sound of the two voices melding into one as the lyrics met his ears and floated into his very soul, striking a fire in his chest and making breathing very difficult.

"_I miss you more than I did a minute ago,  
I climb a mountain just to hear your echo. (Whoo, whoo!)  
All I wanted was you.  
Tell me please do you think of me now and then?  
Cause if I never see you again,  
__I still miss you._

_And I die._  
_One day at a time._

_'Cause I just cant seem to get you off my mind!  
No matter how I try,  
Try to kill the time._  
_Well, I think that I'm just going crazy!  
One day at a time._

_(Oooo!) One day at a time._  
_Well, I think that I'm just going crazy!_

_One day at a time.  
Oh, I think I'm going crazy, ohhh!  
One day at a time._"

As soon as the final chords faded away, the lights on stage burst back to life and Axel blinked until his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. His eyes instantly looked at the boy who had been singing. Just as the redhead caught his eye, Axel's heart stopped. He recognized the big, cerulean eyes and spikey blonde hair and light gold skin. The boy who had been singing was _Roxas_.

"Thanks you guys." Roxas inclined his head to the crowded club. Then he glanced around at the people on stage with him and thanked them as well. The blue eyed angel turned to face the crowd once more and Axel ducked.

"I'm outta here." He muttered to Marluxia and Zexion. "Tell Dem to call me later." He said in a rush and began to shove people out of his way and started toward the exit of the club.

"Ax, where are you going?" Marluxia shouted, but Axel ignored him.

Zexion yelled indignantly, "Axel? Axel! We are on next! We have a commitment!"

The green eyed male ignored his friends, eyes on the exit only ten feet away and twenty people were in the way of his freedom. He would apologize to his friends tomorrow, they would understand. However, he had to get out of here _now_, before-

"Axel Lea! Get your ass back here! Hell's Nobodies are on next!" Riku broadcasted into the microphone, his silver eyebrows pushed together in confusion. There was a lot of feedback and Axel shuddered, unable to continue to play deaf.

"Ah- Axel Lea?" A hopeful voice met the redhead's ears and he froze. "Is that really _you_, Axel?" The voice continued, mentally begging the redheaded male to turn around. However, the moment Axel heard his name, the tall teen slid through the crowd and outside of the club, gasping in the salty night air. His lungs felt they would burst, but he ignored the pain in his chest, right where his heart would be, but he had given that vital organ away the moment he heard _his_ voice again.

Ignoring the commotion in the building behind him, Axel darted off into the darkness. His expensive Italian dress shoes clicking along the pavement, making running very uncomfortable as the back of his ankles were chaffed. The redhead didn't slow down, not until he reached his house and had slipped in, locking the front door behind him. He had saw Roxas. And he looked heartbroken.

"Way to go, Lea," Axel groaned his sarcastic congratulations to himself. "You've really fucked up this time." He shivered, remembering those haunted blue eyes and desperate voice in his head. "Let's see you run away now." Axel muttered, slowly dragging himself toward his room. He needed to sleep and pray this would all be a bad dream and he'd have a fresh start in the morning.

**ARARAR**

_Please review! Because I have no clue what I'm going to write next! Let me know your thoughts! You are intelligent, smart human beings with opinions. Please share them! Thank you!_

_In case you were wondering, the songs were _Ocean Avenue _by_ Yellowcard_, _I'm Still Here _by_ John Reznik_, and _One Day At A Time _by_ the Jonas Brothers.


	2. Chapter 2: Complicated

**Chapter Two:**

_Complicated_

Axel Lea woke up the next morning to his mother slamming the cupboard doors downstairs in the kitchen. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but a sharp knock on his door startled him out of his half-asleep state.

"Get up, Axel! Your friends called and they're coming over later." His sister barked.

The eighteen year old groaned and stretched. "Fine. Who called?" The redhead questioned, wrinkling his nose when he realized he was wearing the clothes he wore to the club the night before.

"I don't know! I'm not your secretary, Axel." Was the magenta haired girl's snippy reply.

"Bitch." Axel snapped.

"Axel Lea, that is no way to speak to your sister! Now, get dressed and get out here right now! We need to have a talk." Karla Lea reprimanded, somehow appearing silently just in time to hear the worst of the conversation, like all mothers have a talent for.

Axel breathed a stream of curses under his breath as he kicked off his sheets and set his feet on the floor. Axel unbuttoned his shirt and threw it at his hamper, smirking when it sailed in. He stood up and quickly unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, kicking them off his legs before throwing them in the hamper, his socks and boxers following seconds later.

His mother rapped on the door with her knuckles, startling the redheaded teen. "Axel? Are you up?" She asked, grabbing the doorknob and turning it, pushing the door open as she did so.

"Mom, I'm naked!" Axel protested, grabbing a pillow off of his unmade bed and placing it over his exposed crotch. "Get out!"

Karla laughed. "I gave birth to you, Axel. Thirty-seven agonizing hours of labor and for what? A smart mouth who calls his sister demeaning names, abandons his friends, ditches his school mates and breaks promises." The emerald green eyed woman folded her arms over her chest. "There's no way I raised my son to be such an inconsiderate jackass."

Axel blushed. "Mom, I can explain all of that, I promise." Karla narrowed her eyes as her son made yet another promise. "But can you please wait until I'm dressed?"

Ms. Lea shook her head. "No. I don't give obnoxious and selfish children privacy. It's nothing I haven't seen before." She glared at her son and pointed to his clothes strewn all over the room from when he had looked for an outfit to wear the night before. "You'll be cleaning this room after we are done with our discussion. I did _not_ raise you in a barn, young man."

The emerald eyed teenager nodded and quickly snatched a pair of boxers off the floor and had them on before the pillow, that had been covering his genitals, hit the floor. Axel slipped on a pair of black sweat shorts and a plain white T-shirt. Once he was done, he ran a hand through his flattened hair, sighing in relief when the red spikes regained their natural, pointy, positions.

"Alright, mom, what did you want to talk to me about? Besides calling Kairi a bitch. Because she was being one. Not in the actual definition of the word, but the smart-ass-teenage-girl definition." Axel cocked to his head to the side, rethinking his words, before he shook his head and continued, "Anyway, she dressed like a slut last night and I just found out she's dating one of my very best friends. And she's not the cute, little thirteen year old I use to know. She's like, the Queen of Whoresville and reigning mega-bitch of Destiny Islands." Axel crinkled his nose and pursed his lips as his distaste for his sister showed it's nasty horns.

Karla's bottom lip wobbled once before they set in a thin line as her acid green eyes glared at her son. "Axel Lea, you watch your mouth! Your attitude is uncalled for!" She glared at her son once more, then her gaze softened. She sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "As for your sister...you're right."

Axel's glowing green eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. "I am? She is?"

Ms. Lea sat on her son's unmade bed. "She's been acting out more and more and Kate," Axel smiled at the mention of his favorite aunt's name, "said she had the same problem with Rikku and promised that it was just a phase and Kairi would grow out of it." Karla sighed again. "However, Kairi hasn't.

"I was thinking about sending her to Radiant Garden to go to Hollow Bastion Academy, like you and Reno did, but I don't think that'd be enough for Kairi. I've looked into some other boarding schools and I've decided to send her to Twilight Institute for Today's Youth. They specialize in rehabilitating their students self-esteem and develop confidence, realize their individual personalities and focus on a creative outlet for the students." Karla's eyes were wet with tears as she finished talking.

Axel sat down on his bed next to his mother and wrapped an arm around her. "I think it sounds great, mom." He waited until he was sure his mother had regained her composure before asking, "Does Kairi know yet?"

Karla shook her head. "No. She would just rebel and act out more. I asked Riku to please return her affections, because I believed she loved him enough to let him lead her down a better path in life, but she got worse." The mother of three laughed bitterly. "I guess I can't blame you for being selfish when I selfishly forced Riku to date my only daughter, huh?"

The second oldest Lea child frowned as he pieced Riku's reaction to Kairi's physical advancements on her 'boyfriend' at the club last night with what his mother had just told him. The redheaded male smiled, pitying his best friend. His very _gay_ best friend.

"So Riku's not bi? He's still as straight as a fucking rainbow?" The teenager asked happily.

"Language." Ms. Lea admonished before nodding. "Yes. Riku's only dating Kairi upon my request. He's still gay." She glanced at her son, whom still had a wide smile on his face. "Why, honey? Are you interested?" Her bright emerald green eyes sparkled mischievously. "He is _quite_ the brilliant, handsome young man, isn't he?"

"Yeah, of course. He would have to be hot to even be _associated_ with me." Axel grinned. "He's just not my type. I _knew_ he was still in love with Sora."

Karla sighed. "Speaking of Sora, we need to discuss what exactly happened at the club last night." The playful gleam in her eyes was gone and had been replaced with a stern, reproving glare.

Her son gulped. "What does last night have to do with Sora?" The teenager asked, confused. He removed his arm from his mother's shoulder.

"Well, not Sora exactly, but last night _does_ have a lot to do with his twin brother, Roxas." At the mention of his childhood best friend, Axel's blood ran cold and he froze.

"D- Do we really have to talk about him, mom? Can't we talk about Sora? Or Riku? How about Kairi? How are you going to get her to go to the new school?" The redhead tried desperately to change the subject.

Karla shook her head. "No, Axel, we can't. Because, I've been thinking," Axel groaned and slumped over, but sat up straight again when his mother smacked the back of his head. "As I was saying, I've been thinking and I remember how you, Riku, Roxas and Sora had a sleepover that you four always had at the end of the school year and then you came back early and begged to spend the rest of summer break at your father's house. When summer was over and it was time to come home and return to school, you refused, saying you needed to have a male's influence and pleaded me to let you attend Hollow Bastion Academy with Reno."

"I know." Axel clenched his teeth together. "What does all of this have to do with Ro- with Sora's twin?"

The redheaded male's mother turned her body to face her second child. "I want to know what happened at that sleepover, Axel."

The teenager sighed dramatically and fell backwards on his bed and stared at his black ceiling. "Well, we were-"

"Hold on," Karla interrupted her son, ignoring his annoyed huff of impatience. She pulled her legs up and crossed them pretzel-style and smiled at her son. "Sorry, wanted to be comfortable." The green eyed woman gestured with her hand to the male next to her, an open invitation. "Please, continue."

Axel opened his mouth, but before he could speak, his mother interrupted once again, "Should I make popcorn for this?"

"Mom! I'm not going to tell you if you don't stop talking!" Karla's second born child snapped.

The short, young woman held up her hands innocently. "I apologize. Go on."

Axel narrowed his acidic emerald orbs, waiting for any other interruptions before starting his story once more.

"It was the last day of school, the end of me and Riku's ninth grade year and the end of the Tenshi twins last day of their eighth grade year. They were really excited to be heading to the high school division of Destiny Preparatory, and me and Riku were excited for all us to be together again.

"Anyway, we were going to have the sleepover on the beach, but we decided to have it at Riku's house instead. Anyway, it was really late and Riku and Sora were asleep and me and um...Blondie...were the only ones awake. And I'd been in love with Blondie for years and I decided to tell him and then, well, things got out of hand."

"Oh my worlds! Axel! You didn't rape Roxas, did you?" Ms. Lea interrupted her son, her eyes wide with panic.

"Mom!" Axel exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, "I- he- we just-" Axel's stammering was interrupted by the doorbell.

"Your friends must be here." Karla glared at her son. "As soon as they leave, you and I will continue this conversation, is that understood?" The mother of three was more than slightly disappointed she wouldn't be able to hear the rest of the story.

The redheaded male jumped to his feet and strode toward the front door. "Gotta go!"

"We will continue this discussion later, young man!" Karla shouted over her son's thundering footsteps as he jogged down the stairs.

"Okay!" The tall teenager shouted back, thanking his lucky stars for getting him out of the sure-to-be-disappointing conversation with his mother. Axel grabbed and twisted the brass doorknob and yanked the door open.

However, the two people standing on his front porch had Axel mentally cursing his bad luck.

**ARARAR**

_I'm sorry to leave you guys hanging, but this is just a filler chapter. This chapter was originally one chapter, but it was so long that I had to split it up. Sorry!_

_Also, I know I haven't updated this in almost a year, and I'm really sorry about that. I can't say I'll be updating more because I doubt that's the truth. I'm writing so many more stories than this, which have not been updated a lot longer than this one. Regardless, I'm sorry and I hope you all bear with me! Thank you!_

_Thank you to all of those who reviewed the first chapter. Hopefully, I won't take so long to update. :P_

_This chapter is named after _Bon Jovi's _song_ Complicated_._


	3. Chapter 3: Journey To The Past

**Chapter Three:**

_Journey to the Past_

Standing on Axel's front porch were two very familiar males. The taller male had silver hair, slightly golden skin and light sea green-aquamarine eyes. The person standing next to Riku was only a bit familiar. Axel looked down at a tan skinned, petite teenage male with unruly, spikey brown hair, beautiful ocean blue eyes, cherubic cheeks and pale pink pouted lips. Sora Tenshi offered the dumbstruck redhead a wide, angelic smile.

"Hiya, Axel!" The bubbly brunette chirped, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. "Is your mother home?"

"Uh..." Axel stared at Riku, a sinking feeling arising in the pit of his stomach, "Yeah." The redhead said, flickering his gaze to Sora. "She's around here somewhere."

"May I come in?"

Axel laughed,"Sure!" and stepped aside, letting the brunette slip by and call for Axel's mother.

"I'm upstairs, Sora, dear!" Came the reply. "I'll be right down."

Sora looked over his shoulder at Riku and Axel and laughed. "Well? Aren't'cha gonna come in, Riku?" The tan skinned male questioned.

"Yeah." Riku set his jaw and looked at Axel. "You gonna be good down here on your own, Sor?" The silver haired teenager asked without breaking eye contact with his childhood best friend's emerald green eyes.

"Yep, 'ku!"

Axel sniggered as the apples of Riku's cheeks pinkened at Sora's shortening of his name. The redheaded noted how protective Riku was of Sora and immediately wished his mother hadn't asked Riku to date his little sister.

"Come on, Riku." Axel said, snapping the silverette back to the present. "Let's go upstairs to my room and catch up."

Riku frowned, but followed Axel out of the hall and up the stairs. "Actually, I think we need to have a nice _chat_." He growled under his breath, but his friend heard him.

"Ah, lots of people want to chat with me today! I'm so popular!"

Riku scoffed as they entered Axel's room. "You've been home for two days and you have already managed to make a mess."

Axel narrowed his eyes. "How did you know I've only been back here for two days?"

"Kairi." Riku smiled, but it was more of a grimace.

"Speaking of my she-devil sister, why, _exactly_, are you dating her?"

"Um..." Riku's calm, cool demeanor vanished momentarily, but reappeared seconds later. "We just sort of clicked." Riku's light eyes grew wary. "Why? Do you not approve?" Before Axel could reply, Riku continued, "Because your mom approves." The silver haired male stepped over the piles of clothes and sat on the desk chair.

Axel smirked and leaped over the clothes on the floor and landed on his mattress. "Yeah...about _that_..I know _exactly_ just how much my mother approves of you and Kairi's relationship." Riku paled and Axel continued, "And I also know that cute little brunette you drove here has you wrapped around his finger and you wouldn't have it any other way." Axel let his childhood friend sweat for a few moments before saying, "And I know you've got a crush on the oldest Tenshi twin."

Riku jumped to his feet, not bothering to care that he was standing on Axel's clean clothes. "Since you _know_ so much, why _am_ I dating your sister, Axel? _Hmmm_?"

"My mom asked you to." Came the simple reply, but he frowned and began to mock his friend, "And you, being the perfect, upstanding role model that you are; agreed." Axel sighed, running a pale, slender hand through his spiky red hair. "But you can totally break up with her. Date Sora. God only knows you two are _destined_ for each other."

The silverette sighed, running his fingers through his silky, platinum hair. "That can't happen, Axel. Not until your mom gives me the okay."

"What about Sora? Doesn't it hurt to know someone can just come along and snatch that cute little ball of happiness up and steal him away?" Axel pressed.

Riku clenched his hands into fists, locking his jaw in place and gritting his teeth together. His eyes frosted over as he stared down the pyromaniac.

"Don't tell me what to do about Sora. _No one_ is going to take him from me." Riku seethed.

Axel nonchalantly pulled out his lighter, flicked it on and began to play with the flame, making it dance and grow. "You're so selfish, Kokuei. Keeping Sora on the back burner while dating my sister. Tsk, tsk, tsk." The taller of the two shook his head in disappointment.

The silverette growled. "Shut up, Axel. You've got no clue what my life is like. I'm doing this to help out your mother. She already lost her sons, I'm not going to allow her heart to break over losing her daughter." The muscular male stated bitterly.

Axel took his thumb off the cap of the lighter and jumped to his feet. "My mother did _not lose_ her sons. She's _not_ losing her _daughter_." The paler of the two teenagers snapped.

"Keep telling yourself that, Axel, cause she's trying to grasp onto any piece of her children she can get." Riku smirked bitterly. "Hell, she hasn't even given up hope Reno will come back and we all know _he's_ a lost cause."

The mattress sank as Axel collapsed on his bed. "My family isn't the only fucked up one on this island."

Riku's nostrils flared. "Whatever, Lea, but you could make it easier on your mother."

"Oh, yeah? How?"

"Stay here and convince your mom you'll be back and you won't stay away forever. She needs to know that you'll be back."

"Riku, why the hell do you even _care_?"

The silverette narrowed his eyes. "Because, Axel, you're my best friend, as are Sora and Roxas." He took a deep breath as Axel flinched at the mentioning of Sora's twin. "And when you left the club last night, you fucking broke Roxas' heart all over again."

"No I fucking didn't!" The malachite eyed teen hissed angrily, "_He_ doesn't want anything to do with me! _I_ didn't break _his_ heart, _he_ broke _mine_. Three fucking years ago, at the end of the year sleepover we had at your house at the end of our ninth grade year!" Axel yelled.

Riku's face seemed frozen in shock, but after a few tense moments had passed, his features relaxed as he sighed deeply. He rose from the desk chair and walked around the clothes littering the floor before sitting down next to Axel on the redhead's king sized bed.

"Why don't you tell me what actually happened at the sleepover? Because I've been told for three years since the incident happened that 'it's complicated'." The aqua-eyed male smiled faintly. "I think I'm old enough to know the truth now."

The pale teenager scrunched his face up in thought, but after a few seconds of internal debate he broke down. "Alright." He groaned and rubbed his face, "Damnit, this is gonna be a day of revelations, isn't it?"

Riku sent him an icy stare, "Let's go, Axel. No more stalling. We're getting this whole situation out in the open right here, right now. Starting now. Go."

Axel inhaled deeply and flicked on his lighter. The gold box shined like new, but it was nothing like the small, engraved silver lighter he received three years ago, at the beginning of his freshman year at Destiny Preparatory. Axel lost the lighter at that fateful sleepover. That lighter was special, unlike the one he held now, just like the person who gave him the thoughtful gift. Roxas.

With the blonde on his mind, Axel opened his mouth and began to tell Riku exactly what had happened three years ago...

"Bye, mom! I'm going to the sleepover at Riku's! Bye, Kairi!" Axel shouted, hoisting his duffel bag onto his shoulder and tucking his sleeping bag and pillow under his other arm.

"Awww! I wanna go, too!" Kairi pouted. "Please can I go with you?" The twelve year old girl begged.

"No." Axel said, shuddering at how horrible the sleepover would be if Kairi tagged along. "Why do you want to go, anyway?"

Kairi giggled, "Because, fire fingers, Riku's hot."

Axel glared at his sister. "Whoa! No crushing on my friends, Kairi. That's just disgusting! Go play with your dolls or something girly and innocent. No thinking about boys being hot or whatever until...well, until I leave for college."

The magenta haired pre-teen glared at her brother, "Mom! Axel's being mean and bossy again!"

"Will you two cut it out?" Karla Lea shouted back at her children. "Axel, go to your sleepover. Kairi, go get ready for bed."

"Later, short stuff."

"Later, fire crotch!" Kairi shot back.

Axel smirked before shouting, "Bye mom!" He bent down and pecked Kairi on the cheek.

"Bye Axel! Tell Riku I said hi!" She told him.

The fourteen year old boy rolled his acid green eyes. "How about no?"

"Axel, if you don't leave soon it'll get darker and then you're not going to Riku's at all." The Lea siblings mother called out.

"Sheesh! I'm going, I'm going! You don't need to kick me out, woman!" Axel replied with a laugh as he left the house, slamming the door shut and letting the screen door bang as he jogged down the porch steps and through his yard, making his way to Riku's house.

Axel pulled out the silver lighter his favorite blonde gave to him at the beginning of the year. The redhead flipped the lid open and pushed down, letting the flame rise and and flicker as the salty sea air swept up the street. Axel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. Riku's house was a decent twenty minute walk from Axel's modest, pale baby blue two story house, so the teenager had plenty of time to plan out how he would confess to Roxas how he really felt about the petite blonde.

The pyromaniac had been in love with the blonde Tenshi twin since they were young. Karla, Raina Tenshi and Jenova Kokuei were best friends and would go to each other's houses and their children would all play together. Riku's older brothers, Sephiroth, and the triplets: Loz, Yazoo and Kadaj, would play with Sora and Roxas' older half-brothers, Leon and Cloud, and Reno would tag along, wanting to be a big kid. Riku, Axel, Sora and Roxas always broke off into their own little group, away from the other boys, Kairi and Riku's little sister, Paine.

As they grew older, the world showed the young, innocent children it's ugly face. The Tenshi twin's mother committed suicide, leaving them orphans. Riku's father and Loz died in a car accident. Axel's parents divorced and Reno left with their father. Yet somehow, they all stayed close and tight, leaning on each other as the world continued to show them no mercy.

However, life for the island natives was looking up. Leon and Cloud were both hard workers and made sure their broken family was making enough money to live comfortably without Roxas and Sora feeling the need to get odd jobs to pay for their keep. Riku's mother, Jenova, had moved on from grieving for her husband and son and was thankful for everyday spent with her remaining children. Karla had stopped blaming herself for the divorce and focused on sending Reno letters, calling him and spending time with Axel and Kairi. Change was in the air.

The sudden burst of good fortune was the icing on the cake for Axel. He would ride this wave of good luck and finally tell Roxas how he felt about the younger boy.

Ten minutes later, Axel was walking up the driveway of Riku's island home. The Kokuei family was extremely wealthy and owned a sprawling seaside mansion that was a common attraction to the tourists. The three story mansion boasted two living rooms, a state of the art kitchen, a spectacular dining room, a sun room, an indoor pool, a basement that had been converted into a game room, four offices, a small library, twelve bedrooms, fourteen bathrooms, a master bedroom and an attic. Each bedroom had it's own private bathroom and a balcony. Riku's room was on the second floor and his balcony overlooked the sea surrounding the island.

Axel jogged up the white stone steps to the Kokuei's veranda. The redhead raised a thin, pale hand and firmly pressed the doorbell. He could faintly hear Jenova's favorite song, Sanctuary by Hikari Utada, echoing throughout the house through the heavy wooden doors. Axel slipped his lighter in his pocket as one of Riku's man servants opened the door.

"May I help you, sir?" The Kokuei family's oldest and most loyal servant, Iroh, asked.

Axel smiled at the well-dressed heavyset man. "Yep! Tell Riku that Axel is here to get this party started!"

Iroh nodded. "Ah, Master Axel, Master Riku was waiting for you. Follow me." The manservant turned on the polished black heel of his shoes and stepped out of the way, allowing Axel to slip by. Iroh shut the door and began to lead Axel through the grand hallway and up the gleaming marble stairs.

"Ya know, Iroh," Axel smiled at the rhyme. "I've been to this house a million times, I know where Riku's room is, so I'm positive you don't need to walk me there." Iroh shot the redheaded teen a look and Axel backtracked, "But you leading me around is cool, too. Especially when you call me 'Master'." Axel winked.

Iroh sighed politely. "Master Axel," The faithful servant ignored the younger male's wide grin, "Mistress Jenova has asked me to warn you that if you set fire to anything tonight, she will light your hide. Quite literally." Finally, the ancient man cracked a smile.

"Excellent!" Axel followed his elder through the house. "You know, fire doesn't hurt me. I can almost control it. I think it's a special gift or something, but it might just be because-"

A voice cut off the redhead, "Because your head is full of so much hot air that you are extremely flammable?"

"Master Riku," Iroh addressed the speaker and bowed. "Master Axel has arrived."

Axel muttered, "No shit." as Riku responded in a polite and refined voice, "Yes, thank you, Iroh. Please continue your duties. Send up Sora and Roxas Tenshi when they arrive."

Iroh bowed again. "As you wish, Master Riku." And with that, the ancient and dutiful servant took his leave.

Once the gray haired man was out of earshot, the redheaded teenager turned to his silver haired friend. "That dude is fun to mess with." He shook his head and laughed as he pushed past Riku and entered the youngest Kokuei male's room.

Riku shut his door and followed Axel. "My mom isn't home right now because she's taking Paine to some mother-daughter bonding class." He smirked. "Apparently, my mother can't stand that her only daughter wears only black."

Axel raised a thin red eyebrow. "I don't mind the black, I just can't stand your sister's red eyes." He shuddered. "They're creepy."

Riku shrugged. "You get used to them, I guess. You know they're only contacts though, right? Her eyes are the same color as my brothers."

"Really?" The other teen nodded. "Huh." Axel frowned. "So, when will they be back?"

"I don't know. It's some weekend retreat thing." Riku smiled. "So I've got the house to myself all weekend."

"Awesome!" The two best friends high-fived and laughed.

A timid knock on Riku's bedroom door interrupted the two teenagers. Two heads turned to face the closed door.

"Who is it?" The silverette called.

"Sora and Roxas!" Was the muffled response.

"Get out!" Axel shouted.

Roxas opened the door and threw his sleeping bag and duffel bag at Axel's face, knocking the redhead over. "Make me." The blonde taunted.

Sora squealed as Axel jumped to his feet and went after Roxas, chasing the younger boy around the youngest Kokuei heir's pristine, spacious room. The chase continued as the oldest of the twins sat down on Riku's bed, smiling when the silverette joined him. They watched as Axel quickly caught up to Roxas and picked the smaller teen up and threw him over his shoulder, walking back to where Riku and Sora sat safely on the bed, before tossing him on top of the two males.

"Axel, you're an asshole." Riku stated plaintively as Roxas and Sora untangled their limbs and Axel laughed.

"I know." The redhead smiled, unfazed, and rubbed the palms of his hands together. "So, now that the gang's all here...let's get started!"

The group immediately rushed downstairs to the kitchen. Sora began to rummage through the fridge, even though the groceries the head cook, Jin, had bought specifically for their sleepover were right in front, Sora still felt the need to look through Riku's huge fridge. Meanwhile, Roxas began pulling bowls out of the cupboards as Axel grabbed several bags of popcorn and began to heat them using his lighter and some very impressive hand motions and within a few minutes all the bags were full of freshly popped popcorn. Riku helped Sora while Axel and Roxas poured the chips and popcorn into bowls.

"You burned some." The blonde Tenshi deadpanned, picking out some of the black pieces of popcorn and throwing them in the garbage.

Axel frowned. "I'm not a freaking fire expert, Roxas. I'm teaching myself without any training. Cut me some slack."

Roxas nodded, his lips pressed together tightly. Only himself, Riku and Sora knew how touchy Axel was when it came to his fire powers. He was serious about mastering them, but too free-spirited to actually nail the discipline and focus required to become a master of fire.

Sora and Riku shared a smile, their thoughts mirroring Roxas' as they grabbed their supplies. Once the necessary ingredients were gathered, Sora set to work making his special dip while Riku and Axel grabbed drinks for everyone. The mini-fridge in Riku's room was well stocked, but growing teenage boys need their sustenance! After the dip was done, the boys juggled bowls of popcorn and chips and cans of pop as they walked all the way up to Riku's room on the second floor. Riku led the way and Iroh brought up the caboose, carefully carrying the bowl filled with Sora's special dip.

"Thanks, Iroh. That will be all." The Kokuei heir thanked his family's servant.

"As you wish, Master Riku." Iroh bowed and left the foursome to their sleepover.

Riku thanked the man again and shut the door. He turned to face his friends and his usually placid expression broke out into a wide smile. "Let's celebrate the ending of our Year of Hell and the start of Roxas and Sora's Year of Hell!" He yelled, popping the tab open on a can of Mountain Dew and raising it in the air in a toast.

Axel quickly opened his own can of pop and clinked his can to Riku's and swigged the highly caffeinated and sugary drink while Sora and Roxas groaned, but their attempt to sound upset was halfhearted. They were all looking forward to finally be together in the same building again.

Axel set down his drink and tossed a couple to the twins. "Drink up, shorties. It's tradition."

Sora and Roxas rolled their eyes in unison, but did as the redhead said.

"Let the coming-of-freshman movie watching commence!" Riku told the group as he walked over to the left side of his room, where the entertainment system covered the entire wall.

Riku had a five by four foot high definition television attached to the wall with every game system ever created with surround sound as the icing on the cake. The youngest Kokuei heir owned almost five hundred games, more than five hundred DVDs and an impressive collection of VHS tapes, most of them were original Disney movies. Axel pulled a black bean bag chair with red flames out of a corner of the room and placed it in front of the TV. Roxas and Sora grabbed their own bean bag chairs. Roxas' bag was black with Jack Skellington's face on it, which the blonde promptly sat on. Sora's bag had Mickey Mouse on it and other Disney characters. Riku turned on his self-filling air mattress and left it to inflate while he grabbed his black bean bag chair with dark purple swirls and sat down.

Axel hit 'play' on the remote while Sora turned on the TV and, without getting up, Riku shut off the lights. The others didn't blink an eye; they knew about Riku's control on the darkness, which was rivaled by Sora's unique power of the light. Roxas kept his power a secret, one that only his twin and half-brothers knew.

Five hours of non-stop movie watching later, Sora and Riku were asleep, leaving Axel and Roxas the only ones awake. Sora had fallen asleep first and Riku had picked the younger male up and carried him to his bed, ignoring the brunette's sleeping bag and had carefully tucked him into his bed. Half an hour later, Riku joined Sora and the two were asleep.

Axel shut off the TV, letting his glowing emerald eyes adjust to the darkness in the eerie quiet that the powered off TV left in its wake. He yawned and stretched his long arms over his head, his shirt rising in the process. He saw glowing blue orbs glint in the moonlight sifting into the room through the parted curtains hanging over the French balcony doors.

"Like what you see?" The redhead asked, his tone light and teasing, a smile playing on his lips.

"Wasn't looking, sorry." Roxas responded quickly and, to Axel's disappointment, truthfully.

Axel scoffed, "Psh, yeah right." And watched as Roxas grabbed his sleeping bag and duffel bag before walking over to the air mattress and dropped his rolled up sleeping bag onto it unceremoniously.

"I'm going to go change and brush my teeth." Roxas announced in a neutral tone and gestured to his bag.

The older male nodded, then realized that Roxas probably couldn't see him in the dim moonlight. Axel stood up and walked over to the doors leading to Riku's balcony and reached for the cord that looked like it was spun of gold and pulled on it. The heavy velvet curtains parted and bright moonlight filled the room. Axel turned to face the younger Tenshi twin and inhaled sharply under his breath.

The young blonde looked like an angel. Unlike his twin, Roxas' skin was a sunny-gold tone, which seemed to glow in the silvery light of the moon. His spikey blonde hair looked darker without the sun or fluorescent light bulbs that usually gave his hair a sunshine-y gleam. Roxas' eyes were easily one of his best features; the big orbs were a beautiful, bright ocean blue that sparkled when the blonde was especially emotional. Everytime Axel looked into those deep blue pools he felt every good emotion and experience he's ever had happen all at once. He felt free and happy and...like he lived in a world where only he and Roxas existed.

"Axel? Hell-o? Earth to Axel!" Roxas snapped in aggravation.

"What shorty?" The redhead asked, rubbing his head in embarrassment as he tried to focus on the blonde in front of him.

Roxas bit his bottom lip innocently. "Are you coming to bed?" At Roxas' words, Axel shivered. The naïve boy had no idea how provocative his words sounded to the older male's ears.

"What about changing and brushing your teeth?"

"It can wait. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course. Why?" Axel smiled inwardly as he managed to stop his pounding heart from affecting his speech.

"I just wondered." The blonde said softly, "You looked like you were a million miles away and you were staring at me like...I don't know. It was kinda weird and scary."

"Oh, sorry about that. I was just thinking." Axel reassured the smaller male.

Roxas' lips turned up into a smirk and his eyes twinkled. "What have I told you about thinking?" He teased.

Axel rolled his eyes and huffed as he walked away from the window and approached his friend. "You've got a smart mouth, Roxas. You might wanna use mouthwash when you brush your teeth."

Roxas fixed the green eyed male with a glare and folded his arms over his chest, dropping his duffel bag in the process. "You're not Cloud and I do not have to brush my teeth or mouthwash if I don't want to."

His friend shrugged and laughed as he began to unroll his own sleeping bag.

The soon-to-be high school freshman frowned as he observed his best friend. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Axel froze for a split second and slowly took a deep breath and let it out before turning to face the shorter teen. It was now or never. "Actually, um, no, Roxy. I want to talk to you."

"Okay." The blonde cocked his head to the side. "About what?"

"Um..." Axel inhaled once again as anxiety flooded his bloodstream and his mind raced. How was he going to tell Roxas he loved him? A few moments passed before Axel smiled. "Let's go out on the balcony. I don't want to wake up Riku and Sora."

"Alright." The blonde shrugged and led the way onto the terrace. Once he reached the stone railing, Roxas turned to face Axel and looked at the older teen, his eyes glowing with curiosity. "Are you coming?"

The pyro nodded. "Yeah, hang on. I have to grab something real quick." He turned his back to the blonde and shuffled through his duffel bag until he found what he was looking for. He put the Listerine spearmint breath strip on his tongue and made a face when his eyes watered slightly.

"Axel, come out here. The moon is so freaking huge tonight." Roxas whispered softly.

Axel shoved the packet back into his bag and zipped it shut before joining the blonde male on the balcony, making sure to close the double French doors behind him.

"Whoa, it is really big tonight." Axel commented with a smile. "I love it when the moon is full and bright, don't you?"

"Yeah. And look how bright the beach is with the moonlight lighting it up."

"Yeah."

It was quiet for a few seconds while Roxas continued to stare at the moon and the beach while Axel's gaze switched from watching the waves crash and looking at Roxas as he tried to gather up his courage.

Axel jumped when Roxas suddenly spoke.

"What did you want to tell me?" The blue eyed boy examined his friend. "You're jumpy tonight. What's up?

Axel's words got stuck in his throat as he looked at Roxas. His tan skin looked lighter in the moonlight and his eyes sparkled silvery-blue. Curiosity shone bright in those eyes and his head was cocked to the side and the moonlight made the tips of his hair look platinum blonde. His long eyelashes brushed against his cheeks when he blinked and he parted his pink petal-shaped lips to sigh deeply. Roxas looked absolutely angelic and Axel was speechless.

"Are you feeling okay Axel? Your eyes look kinda glassy."

The tall, pale teen shook his head and swallowed hard, his mind racing. _I can't do this. I don't even know if Roxas likes me as more than a friend_. Axel paled before flushing red. _Hell, I don't even know if he's gay! This could ruin our friendship forever. I can't do this_.

Roxas bit his bottom lip and moved closer to the redhead. When Axel didn't react Roxas stood on the tips of his toes and pressed the back of his hand to Axel's forehead.

"You feel kinda warm." Roxas retracted his hand and lowered himself. "I'll go see if Iroh has something for you." Roxas began to pull away and Axel finally reacted.

Before either boy knew what was happening, Axel's hands were gripping the sides of Roxas' head and pulled the petite blonde toward him and smashed their faces together, bumping noses. Axel tilted his head to the side and pressed his lips to Roxas'. When Roxas didn't protest or push him away, Axel's eyes slid shut and he began to move his lips against the frozen boy's lips.

Axel slipped one hand down Roxas' side and fisted his shirt in his hand and slid his long fingers through the blonde's spikey locks. He parted his lips to flick his tongue against Roxas' lips, but didn't get a response. The redhead stilled his motions and opened his eyes and stared straight into Roxas' wide blue eyes.

Roxas remained immobile as Axel pulled away slowly and examined the blonde. Roxas' arms were half lifted, reaching out, but not gripping anything and he didn't lower them. He was leaning back and the side of his shirt was wrinkled. Roxas lips were still in a concerned frown and covered in Axel's saliva.

"Roxas?" The green eyed boy huffed shakily.

The blonde shook his head slowly and lowered his arms. He smoothed out the wrinkles in his shirt and wiped off his lips with shaking hands.

Axel's voice cracked as fear filled his body. "Roxas, say something."

Roxas finally looked up at him, his dark blue eyes dark and dangerous. His full cheeks were pink and his lips still shined a little in the moonlight. "Why did you do that?" His soft voice gave away how insecure he truly felt. Axel had to step closer just to hear him and Roxas took a step back and held his hands up in front of him defensively.

Axel retreated and took a deep breath as he tried to gain control of his emotions. He had no answer for Roxas. He hadn't thought, '_Oh, I'm going to kiss my best friend now and possibly ruin our friendship forever_'. He'd just, well, acted without thinking. It'd been spontaneous. So spontaneous, Axel hadn't even known he was going to do it.

"Why did you kiss me Axel?

"I-I-" Axel stuttered.

"Are you gay?"

Axel gaped at the younger boy. _Was I _that_ obvious? Had he known the whole time and never said anything?_ Axel paled. _Had everyone known? Oh my God, if that's true then there's no point in denying it now_.

"Ye-yeah."

"Okay." Roxas ran his fingers through his hair and winced when he tugged on a knot. "So you're gay. And you kissed me."

Axel nodded, feeling stupider by the second. _Or is it more stupid? Whatever, either way I feel like an idiot_.

Roxas frowned and tugged at the tangle. "Why? Did you wanna know what it felt like?"

"Did I want to know what it felt like to kiss my best friend?"

The short boy shrugged. "I was gonna say 'kiss a guy', but whatever. Yeah. Did you?"

"No." Axel shook his head and turned his eyes back to the beach. "I would've asked you first."

"Then why didn't you?" Roxas sighed in exasperation and gave up on his hair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I don't know!" Axel's voice rose in pitch as he grew more nervous, still not looking at the boy. "I just...did, okay?"

"No, it's not okay! You _kissed_ me, Axel! Kissed me!" Roxas' voice squeaked and Axel finally looked at him.

Color filled Roxas' face, his blonde hair was even more spikey and his blue eyes were begging him for an answer. He looked devastated. Axel had to close his eyes and turn away from the short male. He had caused his best friend to become so crazed. It was all his fault. He should've just kept his emotions and lips to himself.

"Just tell me why." Roxas' voice was barely above a whisper, but his voice still cracked on the last word.

"I can't tell you why." Axel covered his face with his hands. "You'll hate me forever."

"No I won't. Just tell me." Roxas begged and Axel felt hands wrapping around his wrists and tugging.

"No, you really will hate me. Or you won't hate me, but we won't be friends anymore."

"I promise you that I won't hate you and we'll still be friends. Just tell me."

Axel gave in to Roxas' insistent tugs on his arms and uncovered his face. "No Roxas. Drop it."

"No. I thought we were friends and told each other everything. I didn't even know you were gay! What kind of best friend keeps that from his friend?" Roxas demanded.

"The kind who doesn't want to be rejected and abandoned by his friends!" Axel spat. "And I thought you knew I was gay, or at least suspected it. I wouldn't have told you if I knew that you didn't even have a clue."

Roxas took a step back and folded his arms over his chest. "So you wouldn't have told me the truth if you thought I didn't know?" The blonde shook his head and continued, drawling bitterly, "Wow. That says a whole lot about how close we are."

"Please, like you tell me everything." Axel scoffed. "I'm sure there's stuff you're keeping from me."

Roxas flushed and bit his lip, deep in thought. Axel exhaled and rubbed his hand over his face. This was so not how he planned his night would go.

"Alright, I'll tell you one of my secrets if you tell me why you kissed me."

Axel rolled his eyes. "No way. If it's something stupid like you still sleep with a nightlight, no deal." He narrowed his eyes at the younger boy. "It's gotta be good. Take-it-to-the-grave good."

"Trust me, it is." Roxas cracked a small smile. "And Sora still sleeps with a nightlight."

"That doesn't surprise me." The redhead snorted.

"Alright, so, why did you kiss me?" Roxas looked so hopeful and a little excited.

_He really cares about why I kissed him. If he knew the truth he'd be so disappointed. Or disgusted_. Axel shook his head to clear his thoughts. _He deserves to know the truth. Then at least he'd know and I would deal with it, whether we'd still be friends or not_.

"Uh, I was dared to kiss you, but I wasn't allowed to tell you about the dare." Axel felt like slapping himself. _Way to go for the truth, dumbass_.

Roxas' face fell and he clenched his eyes shut and hugged himself tightly. His lips were pressed together and his eyebrows were scrunched up.

"Rox, you alright?"

Roxas nodded, but didn't relax.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it was part of the dare." Axel shrugged calmly, but inside his heart was pounding and his blood rushed through him. He couldn't believe what a coward he was, but he couldn't take back his words now.

"I know." Roxas sighed and his arms fell limply to his sides and he raised his head and opened his eyes. "Thanks for telling me, Ax."

"No problem. You know I don't go back on dares." Axel smiled brightly, but it felt fake. "So, just so I don't feel like an ass, was that your first kiss?"

Roxas paused for a brief second before shaking his head.

Axel swore the world stopped turning. His heart dropped and his chest hurt where his heart use to be.

"Oh. So you've been holding out on me." He knew his voice was pitchy and his teasing tone sounded fake. "So, who was the lucky girl?"

"Wasn't a girl." Roxas admitted, a light pink color dusted his cheeks. "Hayner was my first kiss."

"Hang on, _you're_ gay?"

Roxas ducked his head and nodded. "I wasn't sure, though. So I wanted to try with someone I trusted and-"

"And you thought of _Hayner_?" The redhead spat and he threw his arms into the air. "You trusted your first kiss to Hayner!"

Roxas shot him a look. "Yes, Hayner." He narrowed his eyes coldly. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Why? _Why_? Because I thought we were best friends, Roxas! Trusting each other with everything!" He chuckled darkly. "You're such a hypocrite. Giving me shit about keeping secrets when you never even told me you were gay and kissed Hayner."

"It's not like that!" The blonde shouted. "I kissed Hayner to see if I really was gay. And I asked him because if he refused and was grossed out and we stopped being friends I could deal with it. I considered you, Axel, but I didn't want to lose our friendship."

"Oh."

"Yeah. 'Oh'." Roxas scoffed. "But if I knew all I had to do was _dare_ you to kiss me, I would have."

"All you had to do was ask."

"Yeah, right."

Axel rubbed his hand over his face. "I'm serious, Roxas."

"Whatever. I want to know why you're making such a big deal about me kissing Hayner. It is because I'm gay, cause then you're the hypocrite."

"I'm not a hypocrite. I'm just- jealous."

Roxas stopped, his mouth open in shock. "Jealous? Of _what_?"

"Who, really." Axel corrected before sighing, "Hayner."

"_Why_?"

"He was your first kiss and you trusted him with it more than you trusted me."

"Axel, hang on, I just-"

The redhead ignored him and continued, "And that's not all. I wanted to be your first kiss, Roxas. I want to be your first _everything_." He glanced at the blonde. "Cause you were mine."

"What?" The younger of the two breathed. He no longer looked pissed off and betrayed, he just looked shocked. And maybe curious.

Axel felt his hopes rising and he mentally thanked whatever gods there were for giving him a second chance.

"I lied about kissing you on a dare. I was- I was planning on telling you tonight. I wasn't planning on kissing you. Not really. I planned on confessing. And if things went well, I wouldn't have turned down a kiss."

"What are you talking about Axel?"

Axel grabbed Roxas by the shoulders and pulled him until their noses were almost touching. "Nobody dared me to kiss you. I just reacted without thinking." He sighed before continuing. "That was my first kiss." Roxas gasped and his jaw dropped. "I just told you it was a dare so you wouldn't hate me. Or be weirded out or something."

"But why would you lie to me?"

"So you wouldn't hate me. I just said that."

"Axel...do you..._like_ me?"

The taller boy laughed. "I think I'm pretty much in love with you, Roxas."

Roxas shook his head and squirmed in Axel's grip. "Let go, Axel."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

Axel let go and stood back. "So now you know everything."

Roxas shook his head. "No. I don't know why you wouldn't just tell me, Axel. Why did you lie? I don't understand."

"Because sometimes, lying is easier than telling the truth."

"It doesn't matter when telling a lie costs so much."

Axel frowned. "What do you mean?"

Roxas looked him in the eyes and said, "You lied to me, Axel." The redhead opened his mouth to retort, but Roxas cut him off. "And I need time to think about what you said."

"Are you, like, breaking up with me?"

Roxas smiled sadly. "I can't break up with you cause we were never going out."

Axel ignored the smile. "So...what? We're just not gonna be friends anymore?"

"No, we're just putting our friendship on hold."

"For how long?" Axel knew his tone was sharp and harsh, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Roxas shrugged. "As long as it takes."

Axel gritted his teeth. "As long as it takes for what, Roxas?" He hissed.

"For me to come to terms that my best friend is gay, in love with me, kissed me, lied about it and expects life to just bend to his will. And as long as it takes for me to trust you again."

"Fine." Axel turned away from the blonde, opened the door and walked into Riku's room and began to pick up his things.

"What are you doing?"

"Leaving?"

"Why?"

Axel shouldered his duffel bag and cradled his sleeping bag in his arm. "Because you need space and time to think and I'm a good enough ex-friend to give that to you." He stood up. "Whether you want it or not."

"But- you can't leave!" Roxas whispered loudly when Axel closed his hand around the doorknob.

"Why not?"

"Because this sleepover is tradition! You have to stay!"

Axel turned the knob. "Fuck tradition." He pushed open the door, but paused for a split-second and added, "Fuck our friendship. Fuck Hayner and most of all, fuck you." And without another word he walked out the room and shut the door quietly behind himself, already wishing he could do tonight over, or at least take back every word he told Roxas.

Riku was silent the whole time while Axel spoke. His face had remained stoic for the most part and he had listened intently. Now, though, the silence was beginning to make Axel nervous.

"Say something." He croaked, his voice hoarse.

"I- shit, I don't know what to say."

"That's a first." Axel teased him and attempted to smile, but it was more of grimace.

Riku ran his fingers through his hair. "I kind of want to yell at you, but I'm sure you know you fucked everything up." Axel scowled, but gave a short nod. "And I want to know what you were thinking, but you said that you weren't thinking." Another nod. "So I guess all I have to say is, what happens now?"

"I have no fuckin' clue." Axel groaned and covered his face with his pillow and put his head in his lap.

Riku patted his friend's back sympathetically and tried to think of a way to make things right again. His eyes scanned the room and when they landed on Axel's guitar leaning against the wall, he smiled.

"Hey, Axel, I have an idea."

"What?"

"We write a song."

**ARARAR**

_Happy Akuroku Day! Thanks for reading, everyone!_

_Please review! I really want to know what you think! Thank you!_

_By the way, this name of this chapter is one of the songs from the _Anastasia _soundtrack._


	4. Chapter 4: About You Now

**Chapter Four:**

_About You Now_

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. And don't give me that look." Riku said sternly as he smacked Axel on the back and rolled off the bed and walked over to the desk and began opening and closing the drawers. "You know that you always feel better when you get it off your chest and you're not the best at voicing your feelings, but you write damn good music when you've got something to say, so we're going to write it out. Right here and now.

Axel stared at the silver haired teenager with his mouth open in surprise. He and Riku were friends, but after he took off they had drifted apart. Of course, when he visited every summer they had hung out, Riku didn't judge him for taking off because he was fair enough to listen to both sides of the story. But now Axel felt like he did in his childhood. Like no matter what he said or did, Riku would be there beside him, backing him up. Axel hadn't realized how much he'd missed this friendship and how much he needed it.

"Paper is in the third drawer down, pens are in the cup." He said breathily. If Riku wanted to be there for him after all the shit he went through, then he wasn't going to make it harder on the silverette.

Riku grunted his appreciation, grabbed the paper and pens before making his way back to the king sized bed. The green-aqua eyed teenager sat down next to Axel and shoved the supplies into the redhead's chest.

Axel blinked and stared down at the pens and blank sheets of paper scattered across his upper body.

"It's not going to write itself, Axel." Riku remarked, picking up a sheet of paper and waving it in front of the redhead's face. "You're actually going to have to put some effort into this."

"I know," Axel picked up a pen and sighed. "It's just- ugh. I don't know what to write." He admitted.

Riku's aqua eyes narrowed. "I'm sure there's something you want Roxas to know. Something you want to say, or change or something."

Axel flipped the pen around between his fingers. "I would take it all back if I could and do it over. Cause now I'm stuck here and feel like the walls are closing in." He closed his eyes and laid down on his bed. "I've made a huge mess and I want to make it right. If I don't do something now I don't think I'll ever get a second chance."

Riku smiled at the pale teenager. "Good. Now write it out."

Two hours later Axel was staring at the lyrics in his hand while Riku scribbled out the sheet music.

"I think this'll be good with just you singing, guitar and drums."

"Alright. I can handle the singing and guitar, but you know I'm a jackshit drummer."

"I know." Riku smirked and capped his pen. "That's why I'll be drumming."

Axel nodded. "Thanks, Riku." He rubbed his face and cracked his neck. "You're fucking awesome."

"I-" Riku was cut off by someone knocking on Axel's door.

"Who is it?"

"Sorrrr-aaaaa!"

Axel threw Riku a huge smile and a wink. "Cooooooooommmeeee iiiiiinnnnnnn!" He answered in the same sing-song voice.

The door flew open and Sora bounced into the room. "Hey guys!" He waved and approached the bed. "Whatcha guys doin'?"

Riku gathered up the music and began to organize them. "Going over song samples."

Sora rolled his eyes. "That's all anybody on this island _ever_ does. Cloud and Leon are always rehearsing when they're done with work, Roxy hardly leaves his room and when he does, his iPod earbuds are, like, glued to his ears." Axel stifled a laugh, but Sora heard and turned to him and pointed his finger.

"You think I'm joking, but I tried to take them out cause I wanted to talk to him, but they wouldn't come out. And I pulled hard, too."

Axel held up his hands in surrender. "I just thought it was funny."

Sora glared, but continued his complaining. "Kairi is never around anymore, cause she's either practicing or out with Riku." He turned to the silver haired teenager. "And you! You're suppose to be my best friend, but you're never around! You're always off at the recording studio, or with Kairi, or out somewhere." The brunette pouted and crossed his arms over his chest. "You all suck."

"Awww, Sora." Axel cooed. "Are you feeling left out?"

The brunette nodded enthusiastically, still pouting pathetically.

Riku sighed. "I'm sorry Sora. I'll try to make time to hang out with you, but I'm trying to get my solo CD finished for the record label, and get the Drowning in Shadow's CD done, too. And you know I'm going off to college at the end of summer, so I need to get ready for that and-"

"Okay!" The tan skinned teenager shouted. "I know how busy you are, Riku! Too busy writing and making music, too busy with your girlfriend and school. Too busy for your best friend who feels like once you're gone you're never going to come back! Just like how Roxas felt when Axel left!"

Sora glanced at Axel briefly. "No offense."

Axel's jaw dropped open in surprise, but neither of his friends noticed. Riku was staring at Sora with guilt glittering in his blue-sea green eyes and Sora had already turned back to Riku to continue his rant.

"I felt like a third wheel all school year and I thought this summer we would hang out like we use to. We didn't even have our end of school sleepover!" Tears began to form in Sora's eyes. "And it's my last year of school, Riku. We had a huge party for you and a sleepover when you were a senior." The seventeen year old choked on a sob. "So much for being best friends forever." Sora didn't wait for an explanation and ran from the room.

"Well, fuck." Axel muttered after the front door slammed shut downstairs. "We are really good at pissing off the Tenshi twins, huh?"

"Shut up, Axel." Riku snapped as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Sora is absolutely right. I have been neglecting him all year long and I haven't been paying him attention recently." He groaned. "I've just had so much going on and things needed to be done and deadlines have been creeping closer and I just – ugh, fuck." Riku fell back onto Axel's mattress and closed his eyes and covered his head with a pillow.

Axel moved off the bed and rummaged around his desk. After he found what he was looking for he sat back down on the bed and tore the pillow out of Riku's hands.

Aqua-teal eyes glared at him, but Axel only smiled and thrusted a stack of papers against Riku's chest. "Write what you feel." He shrugged. "Maybe it'll do some good."

Riku glared at the papers. "Music is what got me into this mess." He pushed the papers off of him and they fluttered to the floor. "I want nothing to do with it."

Axel rolled his eyes and pushed his friend off the bed. "Stop being a drama queen. Music is what got you into this mess and music is what will get you out of it." He stretched out on the bed. "Besides, you can't swear off music after you just promised to play the drums for me."

Riku growled as he got to his knees and began to pick the discarded papers off of the already messy floor. "Fine. But you're helping me with my song."

The redhead smiled and sat up against the headboard. "Naturally." He patted the empty space next to him. "Now park your ass so we can get to work on explaining to Sora why music is so important to you."

"This is going to sound cheesy, but Sora is my inspiration when I feel stuck and in the dark." Riku's cheek turned light pink. "He's my inspiration."

Axel smiled. "I know what you mean and when you're finished with this song, Sora will know, too."

**SRAR**

"Hello?"

"Where the hell have you been? Why haven't you been answering your phone?" Axel had to hold the phone away from his ear as Demyx yelled.

"Dem, I-"

"I mean, fuck, you tell me and the guys to show up at some club I've never even heard of or been to and tell me to get the guys ready to perform and when we show up, we stand around waiting to go on just for you to bail on us when it's time for us to go on. I mean, who the fuck does that? What kind of friend does that to someone?"

Axel groaned and covered his face with his hand as he collapsed into the cushions. "I know, Dem. I've fucked up royally and I deserve to bitched out for it, but I didn't plan on doing that to you guys."

"Then why'd you do it?" Demyx seemed to have calmed down and willing to let Axel explain himself.

"I saw someone that I screwed over and I couldn't deal with a confrontation and I ran."

"Who?" Demyx asked, curious. "You seemed buddy-buddy with that silver haired guy with the nice ass- ouch! Damnit Zexion! I was only stating a fac- hey!"

Axel chuckled lowly as he switched the phone to his other ear. "Nah, it wasn't Riku. It was someone else." He sighed. "Why don't you guys come over and I'll explain everything. Zex knows where I live."

"Alright. We'll be there in like an hour, alright?"

"Sure. See ya."

"Later, Flurry. Stay hot."

Axel laughed. "Stay cool." He hung up and leaned his head back.

"HEY MOM!"

"HEY WHAT?"

"CAN YOU COME DOWN HERE?"

"WHY?"

"IT'S ABOUT WHAT YOU ASKED ME THE OTHER NIGHT!"

"WHAT DID I ASK YOU ABOUT?"

"JUST GET DOWN HERE, GOD!"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME! THAT'S NOT MY NAME! THAT'S NOT MY- NAME! THEY CALL ME-!" Axel groaned loudly as his mother sang off-key.

"OH MY GOD, GET DOWN HERE!"

"COMING!"

Axel got off the couch and walked toward the kitchen for a glass of water. He had to tell his friends and his mom what he told Riku this morning and his throat was already sore enough from before and from yelling to his mom.

"At this rate Roxas will never know how I feel cause I'm going to lose my voice and won't be able to sing." He croaked as he unscrewed the cap of a water bottle.

"God has arrived!" Karla announced as she bounded into the living room. "Now where is my devil incarnate?"

"Kitchen." Axel gasped as he inhaled quickly before guzzling more water.

"Ah, the room of holy bread."

Axel rolled his eyes and tossed the empty water bottle into the recycling bin by the door frame.

"Two points!" Ms. Lea cheered. "And who says all tall people aren't meant to play basketball?"

"Mom, no one says that."

"Psh, what idiots. So, spill."

Axel glanced at the clock. "We're waiting for my friends. It's a long story."

Karla pouted. "Buzz kill."

"God, mother, act your age, please!"

Karla made a face. "But forty-three is such an unattractive age. Now, twenty-three..._that_ was a good age." She smiled fondly as she reminisced. "I wasn't as big as a hot air balloon, pregnant with twins, I didn't have children who drove me crazy...ah, those were the days."

"Thanks mom, way to make me feel loved and wanted."

"Oh, stop it." Karla playfully pushed her son. "I'm only joking. Sort of."

Axel shook his head and grabbed another water bottle from the fridge. "Do we have any throat lozenges? I don't want to lose my voice."

Karla pointed to the cabinet over the fridge. "Check up there. I know we have throat spray, but you're not suppose to use that unless your throat is already sore." She sat down on a stool at the kitchen island. "So why don't you want to lose your voice?"

"I'll explain later." Axel shuffled around the various boxes, pill bottles, sprays and packets in the cabinet. "Damn, we're out." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm going to run to the store real quick. I'll be back in ten minutes."

"Make it twenty, you're walking!" Karla called as her son jogged into the living room.

"Whaaat?" Axel whined. "Whyyy?"

"Because you're so pale. People are going to think you're a tourist."

Axel wrinkled his nose and shoved his feet into his Pumas. "No they won't. Everyone here knows me. Only the tourists would think I'm a tourist and if they say anything, I'll light them on fire."

Karla rolled her eyes. "You're walking either way. It's good for you."

"Moooooom."

"My house, my rules. Now get out."

"Love you!"

"Love you too, you crazy pyro of mine."

**SRAR**

"Hey everybody, I'm back!"

"Axel, your friends from school are here!"

"I know, mom. I noticed the car in the driveway and I'm looking right at them."

Karla stuck her tongue out at her son before turning back to Marluxia. "So, your hair is naturally that color?"

"It's natural." Marluxia laughed good-naturedly even though Axel knew he was tired of everyone asking him that question. "My dad is blonde and my mom has light red hair and I was born with pink hair. I could prove it to you, but I doubt Axel would like that."

Axel pretended to gag and his friends laughed.

"Sorry I was late. My mom pulled the 'my house, my rules' card and forced me to walk." He opened up his bag of throat lozenges and unwrapped it before popping it in his mouth.

"Well now that you're taken care of, princess, mind explaining why you ditched us?" Marluxia asked as he sat back in the recliner.

"In a moment, your highness." Axel retorted before joining his mother on the couch.

"Come on, Axel. I asked your mom, but she doesn't know either. Just said it was about some rockless guy. Was that the blonde at the club who knew your name? Cause I thought he rocked." Demyx babbled from the loveseat.

"She said his name is _Roxas_, not rockless." Zexion corrected.

Axel took out his lighter and began to play with the flame as his friends bickered back and forth. It could take forever for them all to realize that they had better things to do rather than arguing over he said she said. Axel just wanted to get this all out so he could put it behind him and begin to make things right between him and his ex-best friend.

"I do believe we have better things to discuss."

"Whatever, you're just avoiding the question." Marluxia accused as he smirked at the slate-blue haired teenager.

Axel's curiosity was peaked. "What question?"

Demyx flashed Zexion a wide, bright smile before he answered Axel. "We were debating on who had the best ass of the bands that performed last night."

"Awesome!" Axel smiled, waiting for more, but when no one responded he rolled his eyes and asked, "So, who'd you guys come up with?"

"I thought Riku had the best ass of his bunch, but the other guy was sitting, so it's debatable, but I think he wins, hands down, cocks up. His only other competition would be that blonde guy who drummed in the Warrior band."

"Cloud Strife." Axel nodded thoughtfully as he pictured the blonde's ass in his mind. "He does have a nice ass."

"Ha!" Marluxia exclaimed, pointing at Demyx in triumph.

"Whatever." Demyx waved the pinkette off. "I still think the shorter blonde had the best ass."

Axel blinked in confusion. "What short blonde? Tidus?"

"I don't know his name. Is he the one who knew your name?" Demyx snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah! That's why we're here! You're suppose to tell us why you ditched when you saw the guy with the nice ass!" He grinned evilly at the redhead. "Spill it, Flurry."

"Whoa, you mean _Roxas_' ass? _That_ blonde?" Axel choked on his spit incredulously.

"Yep! The one that screamed your name." Demyx giggled. "Heh heh, that sounded dirty."

Zexion closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his fingertips. "I'm surrounded by imbeciles."

"Hey!" Karla interjected indignantly as she glared at the short emo boy. "I'm offended."

"Not you, Mrs. Lea." Zexion quickly clarified in a calm voice. "I was directing that to the males in this room."

Demyx pouted and ducked his head. "We all know you're smart, Zex. You don't need to make everyone else feel dumb."

Zexion started to protest, but Marluxia cut him off. "Awww, Dem-Dem, come over here. Don't sit by that insufferable bookworm." Demyx sniffled and trudged over to Marluxia and was promptly pulled onto the pink-haired man's lap. "There, there." Marluxia consoled the moping blue eyed teen and stroked his mullet fondly. "He's just being all know-more-than-thou again."

Axel rolled his eyes at the dramatic theatrics his friends were displaying, but he wasn't surprised. Demyx had a knack for speaking without thinking, Zexion corrected him unemotionally and Marluxia pampered him. It was the well-rehearsed cycle they went through almost daily and Axel was more than use to it, but his mother was watching the scene play out with wide eyes. It seemed like Axel would have to be the mature adult once again.

"Cut it out before my mom decides to make you her personal, live soap opera."

"Axel!" Karla hit her son. "Don't say that! You have no idea how much better this is!" She winked at her son's friends. "Carry on, boys."

"No, don't." Axel cut in. "I'm either telling you about what happened between Roxas and I now or I'm never speaking of it again."

"Now who's the drama king?" Marluxia muttered under his breath.

Axel glared. "Just for that I'm setting your garden on fire."

"Asshole."

"Garden nymph."

"Pyro!"

"Pouf!"

"Flaming homo!"

"In the closet pansy!"

"I'm _BI_, you flaming pain in the ass!"

"Bi my ass, you girly thorn in my side!"

"Put that lighter away or so help me I'l-SHIT! YOU BURNED ME!"

"Now who's the flaming homo?"

"Immature children."

"MIND YOUR OWN DAMN BUSINESS, ZEXION!" "YEAH, STAY OUT OF THIS, BOOKWORM!"

"STOP YELLING AT ZEXY! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING!"

"God, this is sooo much better than soap operas. This is like reality TV, without the TV!"

"Shut up, mom!"

"Don't take that tone with me!"

Several minutes later they were back in their seats, though looking slightly worse for wear. Demyx was pink in the face and pouting, again, Marluxia was spreading burn cream on forearms, Axel's hair was spiked at unusual angles and were already deemed pointless to fix, Karla's eyes were still bright with excitement and Zexion looked unaffected, though a bit put off.

"Do you always fight like this?" Karla asked, addressing Marluxia and her son, whom both nodded sheepishly.

Demyx bobbed his head quickly. "They never get along. They both like to be in charge too much."

"Yes," Zexion smirked. "Which is why they would never work out as a couple, though the sexual tension is affecting us all at this point."

"Shut up, Zexion." The other two boys said in unison, but avoided each other's gaze.

Karla clapped her hands and giggled. "You boys have to visit more often! Then I could cancel cable!"

Axel rolled his eyes. "You'd miss the cooking shows too much."

"That's why Sora'll visit more!" Ms. Lea stuck out her tongue childishly.

"Speaking of Sora, and by Sora I mean Roxas...shut up so I can get this over with."

They were quiet for few moments and when no one interrupted, Axel began to tell the story all over again from the beginning.

**~x~x~x~**

When he finished, Axel was staring at his hands folded up in his lap, flipping the lid of his lighter open and closing it quickly. He was nervous, ashamed and even more depressed after rehashing it the second time around.

"That's awful, Axel. I can't believe you said those things to him." His mother's low voice made Axel flinch. " Especially the things you said before you left. That was so despicable and wrong." Karla sighed sadly. "But it's not completely your fault. You and Roxas both kept secrets and twisted everything up. You boys really ruined things for yourselves."

"I know." Axel's voice was rough and his throat felt like sandpaper, but he made no move to get water. His throat lozenges sat on the coffee table, untouched and full, save for the one he had when he got home.

Marluxia sent the depressed redhead a small, sympathetic smile. "Unrequited love is the worst kind of love there is."

"All emotions are worthless." Zexion added with a curt nod. "It's best if one does not acknowledge nor exhibit these-" The blue-slate haired male frowned and wrinkled his nose and forehead in deep disapproval, "Feelings."

"Shut up, Zexion." The others in the room said simultaneously, even Ms. Lea joined in.

Demyx shot Zexion a reproving look and elbowed the teen sharply in the side. He turned to face Axel with pity in his eyes. "That's rough, man." Demyx got up and sat between the mother and son on the couch and rubbed his friend's back.

Axel sighed and welcomed the soothing touch, but he wanted another's touch. A blonder, shorter, bluer-eyed boy's touch with spikey hair and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, a faint blush across the apples of his cheeks and nose, furrowed eyebrows, cracked lips from biting them too often and a smirk that made every dangerous thought become a tempting possibility that was sure to have regretful results but would be a hell of a story to tell and look back and laugh about, no matter the consequences.

Axel jumped when his mother spoke, though her voice was barely above a whisper. "Did you really love him?"

The green eyed male nodded weakly, his facial features twisted into a tragic, pained expression.

"Do you still love him?" Marluxia asked.

Again, Axel nodded, the motion quick and sure.

"Do you have a plan?"

Axel glanced at his mother. "Yeah."

"Do you need help?" Demyx questioned.

He hesitated before nodding.

"Then we're in." Marluxia declared, flashing the mournful pyromaniac a bright smile.

"Yeah, one for all and all for love!" Demyx cheered, punching his fist into the air. He whirled around, lowering his fist and pointed at the boy on the loveseat. "Right, Zexion." The dirty blonde stated, rather than questioned.

The teen sighed. "Very well. I'll go along with this no doubt hopeless scheme."

Karla squealed and clapped her hands. "This is better than-!"

"Mother, if you say cable, soap operas or reality TV one more time I'll light your hair on fire!"

Ms. Lea pouted. "I wasn't going to say any of those things."

"Oh." Axel flicked his lighter shut.

His mother smirked. "I was going to say Lifetime movie." She jumped to her feet and ran out of the room, her footsteps pounding up the stairs.

"THAT'S IT!" Axel growled and launched himself over the couch and bounded after his mother, their footsteps echoing throughout the house.

Zexion rolled his eyes and produced a book from thin air, held it in front of his face and began reading, ignoring the crashes, yells, slamming doors from above and all the smoke alarms in the house going off. Demyx was wide-eyed and open-mouthed until the fire alarm sounded and then he was charging up the stairs, supposedly to put out whatever was smoking. Marluxia only blinked and said, "Do you think everyone in Axel's family was dropped on their heads, multiple times, as babies or if their level of all-around insanity is genetic?"

When no one answered, he huffed, flipped his hair over his shoulder and stalked out of the house, muttering under his breath about emotionless emo bookworms, ditzy dirty blondes, homoerotic and TV obsessed women and flaming homosexual pyromaniacs. Marluxia thanked his lucky stars he was normal, as he popped the trunk of Zexion's car and pulled out his Louis Vuitton satchel. He rummaged around until his fingers closed around the object of his desires and he brandished it with a bright smile. The pink haired male puckered his lips as he applied glittery pink lip gloss to his mouth. Out of everyone here, he was the most normal. Clearly.

**ARARAR**

_Please, please, please review! I really want to know what you think!_

_This chapter is named after Miranda Cosgrove's song with the same name._


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